The China Crisis Conversation

I can’t for the life of me think what would be identifiable, maybe our singing voices, and as for genres of music, I’d like to think we like them all, and you can hear that in our music.

When you were growing up in Kirkby, Merseyside, which musicians/music did you listen to? What music do you like to listen to now?

Growing up in Kirkby, mostly our brothers and sisters would play records or have the radio on, the top 40 countdown, Top of the Pops, and then our friends at school… we would all be getting into the same groups around about the same time… Bowie, Eno, Magazine etc. Music we listen to now….everything and anything,  from John Grant to Owen Pallett.

Gary, how did you and Eddie first meet? Did you bond over shared musical tastes or similar interests?

Yes, Eddie was dropped from a higher set at our comprehensive school, St Kevin’s School for boys, we took an instant dislike to each other, mainly because we realised we both had a passion for music, more than for history or geography etc. It didn’t take us long to bond over our shared passion for music, and pretty much soon began making music together. . . well, I say making music…but truth be told we needed to learn to play our instruments: guitar, bass guitar, synth, drum machines.

Did you and Ed have any musical training or were you both self-taught musicians?

Self-taught, we both had had guitars as very young teenagers, around about the age of 12 I would have got a guitar for my birthday from Woolworths, and then later on, Eddie had a guitar and then his mum Katie very kindly let us purchase a Yamaha CS10 synth from her catalogue, which was meant to be paid for weekly, which I doubt very much Ed and I did, that would have been Katie supporting us from the off…..awww.

How do you put yourself in the flow to write a song? Are there any rituals that you like to follow, and do the lyrics always come to you first or is every song completely different?

I sit at the piano every day and play and lo and behold songs appear from out of nowhere, but you do have to play and play and play. Lyrics come at anytime, sometimes with the music and other times you just have to be aware that there are always words popping into the consciousness, and words make lyrics and lyrics are what’s needed for a ‘song’ to happen.

Who are your favourite writers and poets?

I mostly read diaries and biographies, so I don’t have a fave writer as such. And poetry. . . well I see and hear that all the time. . . in pictures, films, music. Poetry for me equals magic, it’s difficult to define but it happens for sure.

Have you ever thought about composing music for film?

In the early days of the China’s making records I always thought that was something we would be involved in but then ‘pop’ happened and that’s more than enough to contend with. I do like hearing our music in film and television, especially when it’s featured in something like Coronation Street….b o o m! Result.

What do you think is the secret to the longevity of both your personal friendship with Eddie, and musical partnership?

I think that would be down to our upbringing, very Catholic, working class and of course ‘chemistry’ which again, is hard to define. I think there is something magical about our voices together, and on a personal level, we’ve learnt to give each other support. It’s a job at the end of the day, but one of the better ones, absolutely.

Photo: Philippa Rose DalyYou’re a prolific, incredibly talented artist, and have had solo exhibitions of your work. How long have you been drawing and painting and what subject matters inspire you?